The Patriots worked out McClellan on Monday and plan to sign the free agent defender, Jeff Zreibec of The Athletic reports (Twitterlinks.)

The Ravens cut McClellan, who’s been a key special teams presence and part-time starter at linebacker for most of this decade in Baltimore, out of training camp but re-signed him in mid-September. The Ravens wanted to bring back the 32-year-old veteran again, per Zreibec, but their injury situation didn’t give them room for such a move in their view.

It appears McClellan will return to New England after his workout. McClellan’s only played for the Ravens in an eight-year career. He played in 96 Baltimore games, making 24 starts, and saw action in all four playoff games en route to the franchise’s Super Bowl XLVII victory.

A team known somewhat for valuing special-teamers, the Patriots were also missing Nicholas Grigsby due to an illness in Week 9 and have rookie Ja’Whaun Bentley on IR.

McClellan, 32, offers plenty of experience with the Ravens, as he’d been with the club since 2011 before being released at final cutdowns. While he’s primarily served on special teams, McClellan has been called on to play defensive snaps in the past. In both 2012, and 2016, McClellan started 11 games as an injury replacement. Overall, McClellan has appeared in 90 games and managed 98 tackles.

The Eagles auditioned quarterback Paxton Lynch and a host of other free agents on Tuesday, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (Twitter link).

Philadelphia, of course, has already brought in one failed early-round quarterback this year in Christian Hackenberg, who didn’t make it through final cutdowns. Lynch, a first-round selection in the 2016 draft, has already met with the Bills and Lions since being cut by the Broncos last week.

Lynch, 24, failed to beat out seventh-round signal-caller Trevor Siemian in Denver for two consecutive seasons, and though he ultimately did make starts for the Broncos, his performances were abysmal. In four career starts, Lynch has completed only 61.7% of his passes for 792 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions, and was dreadful again during the 2018 preseason.

Two prominent 2015 Ravens draft picks were informed they won’t be on this season’s initial 53-man roster. Breshad Perriman and defensive lineman Carl Davis, a third-round draft choice three years ago, did not make the cut.

Davis started nine games for Baltimore last season but has just 30 career tackles. He missed the entire 2016 season.

The Ravens will also cut guard Nico Siragusa, a 2017 fourth-rounder who saw an injury end his rookie season before it started. Recently coming off suspension, tight end Darren Waller also won’t be part of the Ravens’ season-opening roster.

Here is the full list of Baltimore’s cuts, the first group including the players who will head to the waiver wire:

After nine years in Baltimore, Albert McClellan will be looking for a new home. Jeff Zrebiec of The Atlantic reports (via Twitter) that the Ravens have released the veteran linebacker.

The move is a bit surprising considering McClellan’s tenure with the team, but the move seems to make sense for the Ravens. The 32-year-old is getting up there in age, and he missed the entire 2017 campaign due to a torn ACL. However, he arguably had his mostly productive NFL season in 2016, when he finished with a career-high 55 tackles in 16 games (11 starts). The 2010 undrafted free agent out of Marshall will now have to find another gig if he hopes to play this upcoming season.

With the release, undrafted rookie linebacker Chris Board seems to have a good chance of making the team. Otherwise, the team would only have three inside linebackers in C.J. Mosley, Patrick Onwuasor, and Kenny Young. The team is also rostering Bam Bradley, who is on the PUP.

Tom Brady suffered a “painful” thumb injury during a practice that took place at the beginning of the week, reports Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston. According to Curran, the 40-year-old quarterback cut his thumb badly when a running back smashed it while the team was running a play at practice. However, Curran notes that Brady can throw, but doesn’t know exactly just how much it will affect the Patriots gameplan this Sunday.

As always, Curran notes that the team is not letting much information out to the press or public at this time. It’s highly unlikely that Brady will not play in the AFC Championship game, but it is a story that people should keep track of as the game time approaches over the weekend. Perhaps the biggest development that Curran has to offer is that Brady is “not taking snaps from under center”.

The team has listed Brady as questionable on the most recent injury report, but the impact of the injury could have a major effect on BillBelichick‘s gameplan even though nobody expects the five-time Super Bowl winner to miss such a big game.

While the addition of NaVorro Bowman could not stop the bleeding of a disappointing 2017 Raiders season, that doesn’t necessarily mean that new defensive coordinator Paul Guenther doesn’t want the veteran linebacker back in the fold in 2018, reports Scott Bair of NBC Sports. “NaVorro is a prototype middle linebacker, really,” said Guenther. “The thing that impressed me most with NaVorro is that they got him here midseason and by the end of the year, it appeared to me that he was kind of the leader of the unit, making a lot of calls. You can see that on tape. It looks like he is a smart guy that understands the game. I love smart guys that love playing football. Hopefully we can get him back in the fold and keep him a Raider.”

Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson was arrested on a number of charges earlier this morning. Connor Hughes of NJ.com has more details about what occurred to bring this type of discipline. According to a police report that NJ.com obtained, Hughes reports that Anderson”rapidly accelerated” past cops at 105 mph after he saw them on the side of the road. As the cops followed behind Anderson, the report states that Anderson was “all over the road”, and seemingly “failed to maintain a single lane on numerous occasions.” Anderson did eventually stop the car and was arrested, but not until make a number of threats to the police officer’s wife. These details spell more bad news for Anderson who already was arrested back in May while he was at a festival in Miami. The wideout may face discipline from the NFL, but the league still must do their due diligence investigating the incidents until any punishments will be handed down to the 24-year-old.

Ravens linebacker Albert McClellan has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entirety of the 2017 campaign, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).

To say Baltimore has been hit hard by injuries this offseason would be a massive understatement. A number of key Ravens have already been lost for the season, including running back Kenneth Dixon, tight end Crockett Gillmore, cornerback Tavon Young, and offensive linemen Alex Lewis and Nico Siragusa. Quarterback Joe Flacco, meanwhile, is also dealing with back issues, although he’s expected to return in time for Week 1.

While he’s primarily served as a backup during his six-year NFL career, the 31-year-old McClellan started 11 games in 2016 (the second time he’s done so). On 603 defensive snaps, McClellan posted 52 tackles and one sack but earned negative grades from Pro Football Focus, which ranked him as the league’s fourth-worst edge defender.

McClellan has two years left on a three-year, $3.75MM pact he signed prior to the 2016 campaign. He’s scheduled to count for $1.2MM and $1.45MM on Baltimore’s salary cap in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

WEDNESDAY, 4:37pm: McClellan’s deal is worth $3.75MM over three years, according to Zreibec (on Twitter). It includes a $600K signing bonus.

TUESDAY, 2:02pm: McClellan’s new deal will be a three-year pact and will feature a signing bonus, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

TUESDAY, 1:33pm: The Ravens are re-signing linebacker and special-teamer Albert McClellan, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Zrebiec is unsure of the terms of McClellan’s new deal, but tweets that it will be a multiyear agreement.

An undrafted free agent, McClellan joined the Ravens in 2011, and has spent the last five seasons with the team. Although the Marshall alum started 11 games at linebacker in 2012, recording 42 tackles, a sack, and a pair of fumble recoveries, he has primarily been a depth piece on defense during his time in Baltimore, contributing mostly on special teams.

In 2015, McClellan played just 161 defensive snaps for the Ravens, despite the fact that starting outside linebacker Terrell Suggs missed nearly the entire season with an Achilles injury. Still, Zrebiec tweets that Ravens coaches love McClellan, regarding him as a “very valuable” special-teamer and backup linebacker.

McClellan, who is coming off a two-year, $2.2MM contract, had been eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason. He figures to return on a new deal that matches or – more likely – exceeds his previous $1.1MM annual salary.

Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun has provided plenty of interesting tidbits on Twitter this morning, so let’s round up a few of the highlights. All links go to Wilson’s Twitter….

Wilson first reported yesterday that if Steve Smith is cut by the Panthers, the veteran receiver would draw serious interest from the Ravens, and it sounds like that interest would be mutual. Sources tell Wilson that Smith would be “highly interested” in Baltimore if he becomes a free agent.

It looks like the first free agent visit for defensive lineman Antonio Smith will be with the Redskins, as Wilson reports that Smith is heading to Washington today. We heard yesterday that the longtime Texan would also meet with the Titans, Rams, and Raiders, though the visit to St. Louis was shot down in a later report.